regulations

Recent hurdles aside, including calls from various groups for FMCSA to issue a supplemental rule to add a time-based behind-the-wheel requirement, the rule likely will remain as-is through its 2020 implementation date, says Don Lefeve, head of the Commercial Vehicle Training Association.

Speed limiters, driver training, ELDs and more -- If the barrage of Trump news has left you a little dizzy, here’s a quick look at the key trucking-specific happenings from the new administration in its first two weeks.

FMCSA's removal of the behind-the-wheel minimum number of hours in their proposed pre-CDL training rule has caused a stir among drivers, training organizations and others. What's your view on the rule and whether that minimum (or another) should be included?

Prompted by a Jan. 20 order issued by President Trump, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will publish a notice Feb. 1 officially delaying the effective date of a new rule establishing national truck driver training standards.

The bill would require 30 hours of driving for a Class A CDL. The bill would restore the requirements proposed by FMCSA last May but not adopted in the agency's final driver training standards rule published in December. But they'd only apply to California-based applicants.

With some larger carriers pushing the federal government to allow hair-sample testing as a substitute for required urine testing of drivers, what's your view on the practice? Should it be allowed, or not?

With the publication and immediate suspension of the URS, existing carriers will need to continue to follow the same procedures and forms for registration updates as they do today. The agency intends to lift the suspension once the technology to implement the URS is complete, it says.

OOIDA and the other petitioners argue the removal of the 30-hour minimum disregards Congress’ intentions for the rule and the consensus established during rulemaking negotiations between FMCSA and industry stakeholders. The rule is set to take effect in three years.